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Investigating the Seasonal and Diurnal Cycles of Ocean Vector Winds Near the Philippines Using RapidScat and CCMP
Author(s) -
Lang Timothy J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2017jd027516
Subject(s) - diurnal cycle , climatology , monsoon , environmental science , divergence (linguistics) , submarine pipeline , daytime , seasonality , annual cycle , atmospheric sciences , geography , oceanography , geology , ecology , biology , philosophy , linguistics
The seasonal and diurnal cycles of ocean vector winds in the domain of the South China Sea are characterized and compared using RapidScat and the Cross‐Calibrated Multi‐Platform (CCMP) data sets. Broad agreement in seasonal flow patterns exists between these data sets during the year 2015. Both observe the dramatic reversal from wintertime trade winds (November–April) to westerly flow associated with the summer monsoon (May–October). These seasonal changes have strong but not equivalent effects on mean wind divergence patterns in both data sets. Specifically near the Philippines, the data sets agree on several aspects of the seasonal mean and diurnal cycle of near‐surface vector winds and divergence. In particular, RapidScat and CCMP agree that daytime onshore and nocturnal offshore flow patterns affect the diurnal cycle of winds up to ~200 km west of Luzon, Philippines. Observed disagreements over the diurnal cycle are explainable by measurement uncertainty, as well as shortcomings in both data sets.